AMMAN - Syria declared Jordan's charge d'affaires in Damascus persona non grata in response to what it said was an unjustified decision by the kingdom to expel its ambassador, Syrian state television said on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Jordan gave Syrian Ambassador Bahjat Suleiman, a former general and intelligence chief, 24 hours to leave the country, accusing him of having made repeated public criticisms of the Western-backed kingdom.